Hello everyone and welcome back to Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. This is Episode Seven.
I am your host Hannah. Today’s Library Tidbit is a Science Experiment. You will find a list of needed supplies below above the experiment directions.
The Spanish Language Book Review begins at 10:26 and ends at 15:00
The English Language Transcript can be found below
But of course, we start with Reader’s Advisory
The Reader’s Advisory for Episode Seven is Pulse by Jeremy Robinson. If you like Pulse you should also check out: The Ghost Brigade by John Scalzi, Vulcan’s Forge by Jack du Brul, and The Lost City of Z by David Grann.
My personal favorite Goodreads list Pulse is on is Monstrous Biology.
Today’s library tidbit comes to us from Mr. Joe over in the children’s department.
Today’s tidbit is about geology and fossils. One way that scientists date rocks and fossils is using stratigraphy.
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology that focuses on the study of rock layers. There are two main subsets of stratigraphy: Lithostratigraphy, and Biostratigraphy. In today’s tidbit we are going to focus on biogstratigraphy.
Biogstratigraphy is used to give relative ages to fossils and rock layers using what are known as index fossils. Meaning that other fossils found in the same layer as an index fossil are assumed to be of around the same age as that index fossil.
To be useful in stratigraphy index fossils should be: Independent of their environment, Geographically widespread, have rapid evolution, Abundant (easy to find), Easy to preserve, and Easy to identify.
A fossil can be formed in different ways Permineralization (where mineral rich water invades a buried organism and all the empty space in that organism is replaced with minerals), Casts and molds (where an organism leaves behind an imprint of itself or a portion of itself), Replacement and recrystallization (where the tissue of an organism is replaced by minerals).
These are rather simplified definitions and the list is not exhaustive. Check out Dewey Decimal number 560 for more information.
The List of Supplies Needed for the Experiment:
4-6 Paper Cups
Baking Soda
Food Coloring
Black & Colored Beads
Deep Dish
Pipette
Vinegar
Colored Pencils/Crayons/Markers
Piece of Paper
Directions for the Experiment:
Take a paper cup, pour a small amount of baking soda into the bottom, add a small black bead and a small red bead. Pour in a small amount of colored water, which ever color you want, just enough to wet the baking soda, push down on the baking soda really hard using the second paper cup and your fingers, this stimulates the pressure needed to create a fossil. Add another small black bead and pour in enough baking soda to cover the bead. Pour in another small amount of water making sure to use a different color this time and press down hard again. Keep going making sure that every layer you add at least one black and at least one (or more) colored bead(s) as you go until you run out of beads or you have filled your cup. Making sure to press down really hard in between layers.
You can alternate between two different colors of water or use a bunch of different colors.
Once you are ready carefully rip away the paper cup. What you should be left with is a colorfully stripped sediment sample. Those different layers represent different strata or sediment layers. The farther down the sample the older the layer! Place the sample into a deep dish.
Make a quick drawing of your sample, making sure to color your drawing just like you see it. Can you see any beads from the outside? Make a note of which layer that bead is in on your drawing.
Once you have it drawn take a very small amount of vinegar in the pipette and coat the top layer evenly. You should start to see the layers dissolve. As the beads are revealed make a note on your diagram of which color the beads were found in. Add small amounts of vinegar as needed but take your time. Remember science is methodical which sometimes means having to be patient to get results.
We hope you enjoyed our science experiment and thanks Joe for the fun tidbit.
Book Traveler, with Victor:
Hi. My name is Victor and in this edition of Book Traveler I’m going to talk about one of Paulo Coelho’s most famous books, The Alchemist.
First I will give a brief synopsis:
The Alchemist is, without a doubt, one of the most important and well-known works of the Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho.
The novel tells the story of a young shepherd called Santiago, who decides to pursue his dreams. At the beginning of the novel the young man is a shepherd, he travels with his sheep everywhere, and thanks to them he makes enough money to live. However, little by little the ambition and desire begin to grow in the protagonist to travel and meet new places. The young shepherd has the same dream several times, and he goes to a fortune-teller to interpret it, and later to a wise man. He comes to the conclusion that the dream told him that his treasure was in the pyramids of Egypt, and so, the young man decides to sell his sheep, leave everything behind, and leave for the new continent in search of his treasure.
During his trip through North Africa he encounters some setbacks; he is robbed by a man who offered his help. He earns the money to return to Spain working in a glass shop, but instead of returning he decides to go in search of his personal legend.
He travels to Egypt and there he meets an Englishman who claims to be a student of alchemy, who dreams of turning metal into gold, and teaches Santiago the language of the desert or the language of the world. He continues his journey and encounters clan battles in the desert, falls in love with a young woman named Fatima and meets a true alchemist.
Until finally he finds his treasure and realizes his personal legend.
Now I’m going to talk about my personal opinion:
Unfortunately, The Alchemist was not able to meet my expectations. The main ideas of the novel are fine, the dreams to be made and the search for our own Personal Legend. But at no time did I manage to connect with the protagonist, and less with the author’s narrative style, which disappointed me a lot. It may be because I had more or less high expectations, but except for some expressive phrases throughout the novel, it did not move me in the slightest. In fact I found his narrative a little over-valued, to say the least. On the other hand, the story becomes predictable and tired. There were very few times when I became completely interested in what was going to happen.
The characters, except perhaps the king and the alchemist himself, completely lack personality and charisma. They are so extremely flat and boring. In addition, the vast majority contribute nothing to the story. And I repeat it again, everything is very predictable, absolutely everything. And the idea of love, of the love that is presented in the book, is the most painful thing I’ve read in a long time. It is presented in such a ridiculous way that it makes you laugh.
This novel by Paulo Coelho disappointed me completely. The book has a story that is too simple, a protagonist with whom you can’t connect and seems insubstantial and insignificant, and a style that leaves a lot to be desired. A book that in my opinion lacks the quality that make us believe its fame. But although I did not like the book I hope that this review does not offend anyone. Don’t be influenced by my a single opinion, as on the whole this is a novel a lot of people like.
The good thing about the novel is its simplicity, and the moral; that of never surrendering, because when a person really wants something, the whole Universe conspires for it to be fulfilled.
Is all for today. Until the next edition of Book Traveler. Goodbye.
Thanks everyone for listening some upcoming library events to keep track of:
November 2 Free Cycle Drop of at 10:00am in the Jenkins Wing
November 3 Free Cycle at 9:00am in the Jenkins Wing
November 5 Walking in Their Footsteps at 6:00pm in the Local History Room
November 6 eMagazines Anywhere You Go: learn RBDigital at 3:00pm in Jenkins Room A
November 7 Chapter Chat at 6:00pm at the Evermore Cafe
November 15 Show Your Creative Side at 2:30pm in the Teen Room
November 17 Our Quaker Ancestors: their History and the Records They Left at 11:15 am in the Jenkins Wing
November 17 The Marriage of the Waters: the Erie Canal and the Opening of the Midwest at 1:15pm in the Jenkins Wing
November 20 Getting Started with LinkedIn at 6:00pm in the Computer Lab
November 26 Issues that Matter: Suicide Prevention Book Discussion & Resources at 6:00pm in Jenkins Room C
November 29 Winter is Coming at 2:30pm in the Teen Room
Remember everyone the library will be closed November 12 for Staff Development Day and November 22 and 23 for Thanksgiving.
Have a great month everyone.
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
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